Michigan still 'working' to retain some critical players on defense

Michigan football fans don't have much to complain about in terms of the way new head coach Kyle Whittingham has built the roster.

The Wolverines retained their most important asset, Bryce Underwood, while also bringing back key pieces on the offensive line, at running back, wide receiver, tight end, and in the secondary.

Michigan isn't batting 1,000, though. There have been misses, such as allowing Cole Sullivan to leave for Oklahoma. Some other transfer targets didn't materialize, and this is one position that Michigan football still needs to address.

However, there is another, which could use fortifying, whether through player retention or addiiton, and that's defensive tackle.

Michigan added a defensive tackle from the transfer portal, Utah's Jonah Leaea, who committed to Michigan, but hasn't been announced by the program's official account. That could mean a holdup with transfer credits, which cost U-M a linebacker.

The issue is that Michigan will only allow 60 credits in, so if a player is a junior, he would essentially have to re-take classes to get a Michigan degree. It has nothing to do with grades not being good enough.

Things could be fine with the former Utah DT. Just the lack of announcement always makes me nervous with transfers.

Regardless, if the Wolverines can lock down to players on the roster, they should be fine moving forward.

Michigan football is working to retain Enow Etta and Trey Pierce

Nothing is official with either, but the tea leaves are looking good. Pierce's younger brother, a former three-star linebacker, transferred from Western Illinois after a redshirt season there in 2025.

Pierce is Michigan's best defensive tackle. Honestly, that was the case most of last season, too. One who has a chance to develop into a stronger player is Enow Etta. He's been in the portal for over a week now, but the Wolveriners seems to have a good shot of getting him back.

Pete Nakos of On3.com reported that Michigan was "working" to get him back. His younger brother, a linebacker in the 2026 class, also received an expert projection from Rivals to commit to the Wolverines, so it feels like things are starting to fall into place.

With some others like Deyvid Palepale and Manuel Beigel waiting in the wings, along with top-125 freshman Allister Vallejo and Titan Davis, defensive tackle looks better than expected, as long as Etta and Pierce are retained.